Investigating The Real Cost Of Not Being A Morning Person

I’ve just worked something out. Not being a morning person is really hurting my bank balance.

Let’s look at it this way: I’m not my most amazing self in the morning. If and when I drag myself out of bed to get to work, it is done without any grace and with the support and care of multiple cups of coffee. On a good day, I buy just one takeaway coffee on the way to work (to supplement the one I have slurped at my kitchen counter before I rush out the door).

On a bad day, I buy at least two coffees. I also buy breakfast. Sometimes – I’m whispering this, sotto voce – I get an Uber to work. Because I’m disorganised and bad at being an adult, my not being a morning person also usually means that I haven’t organised my lunches for the week. So I buy those too. I’m exhausted, so I skip the gym that I’ve already paid for, losing out on that money. When things are really bad, and let’s face it, sometimes they are, there are hours of browsing ASOS online and making stupid impulse purchases.

This is the real cost of not being a morning person. Making bad choices with your money.

Let’s tally it up

Okay, say – conservatively – I’m not a morning person two days of every week. Those two coffees cost $4.20 each (I drink soy milk, I know, I know, I hate myself too). Then there’s the breakfast, Let’s say one day it’s $3.50 toast, the other it’s $8 bircher. Add $11 for lunch, give or take. Add $15 for the Uber. (Ouch).

That comes to $4,175.60 every year. Once those numbers increase – like, a third or even a fourth day of running late – things start getting truly upsetting.

“You do have to ask yourself honestly are you using your time wisely to help ensure that you are heading in the right direction towards the achievement of your goals,” Canna Campbell, financial advisor and founder of Sugarmamma and CannaMedia says. “The avoidable stress of an early morning rush and panic disrupts the flow of your day, setting you up for further challenges and possible depletion of your energy sources and efficiency.”

Campbell suggests setting your alarm 20 minutes earlier, and leaving it outside your bedroom to help you conquer the wee hours and, in turn, add literally thousands of dollars to your savings account. And it’s important to go to bed early and not spend hours scrolling through Instagram right before you lie down. (Guilty). “Set a reminder in your phone to start preparing for bed early,” she counsels. Leave your clothes out ready for the next day, right a short to-do list and email it to yourself and get as good a night’s sleep as possible before.

So, how much do I save?

And when you start thinking of it that way everything falls into place. If I had my shit together and didn’t need to buy those coffees, made a whole bunch of overnight oats or the dreaded chia pot and left them in the fridge to grab and go, had my lunches organised on a Sunday night, woke up just a tiny bit earlier so I didn’t have to run for the bus…

Well, I could put almost $4,000 into my savings account. (Or I could buy a whole lot of things on ASOS. That’s a joke! That’s a joke!)